EP2624727B1 - Serviette provided with two separable fastenable neck bands and openings for buttons or a tie - Google Patents

Description

• The subject of the invention is a serviette provided with two separable fastenable neck bands and openings for buttons or a tie, wherein the two neck bands are part of the serviette and perforated on the serviette and can be optionally partly separated therefrom and used for the purpose of tying such serviette. The invention belongs to classes A47G 11/00 of the international patent classification.
• A problem successfully solved by the serviette provided with two separable fastenable neck bands and with openings for buttons or a tie is a construction and design of such a serviette (principally of paper), the shape of which will allow a normal use of the serviette for mouth wiping and an efficient and safe placement around a neck without any additional fastening or other elements with the purpose of protection against stains.
• Serviettes described in the continuation are intended to wipe a mouth after consuming food and/or drink and to protect clothing, a shirt or a tie against stains. The simplest way of using such serviettes with the purpose of protecting clothing is to insert an edge of the serviette in the shirt or to place the serviette on the knees. Neither of the ways provides for a successful and safe placement, as the serviette is very unstable in both instances, it moves or inadvertently falls to the floor, often without the user even knowing it, thus offering no protection.
• Several solutions have been developed to maintain a serviette around the neck, however, they do not present a satisfactory solution to the set problem of a universal use and to a simple placement and maintaining. Further, all known solutions fail to provide for a simple manufacturing of such a serviette.
• A majority of solutions for holding a serviette around a neck offers additional elements like chains with clips (according to patent specification US 2009119883 ) or serviettes are provided with additional sticking elements in the corners and/or sides that allow a successful holding of a serviette when folded.
• German patent documents DE 20 2005 004 981 U1 , DE 20 306 817 U1 , DE 20 013 553 U1 , DE 29 915 772 U1 and the Swiss document CH 689932 disclose variants of serviettes provided at one edge, in one or several corners, at an edge and a corner or in several corners with a sticky section in the form of a circular surface, a strip or another geometric shape covered with a protecting film or removable cover. When such serviettes are used with the purpose of being placed around a neck, a user removes the protecting film or removable cover from the sticky part and fastens the serviette around his/her neck. Due to its sticky parts such a serviette is not universally applicable for mouth wiping, and what's more manufacturing or placing sticky parts on the serviette does not allow economic manufacturing of such a serviette.
• Patent document WO 97/01292 disclose a disposable protective device according to the preamble of claim 1, the device comprising a protective portion and two securing portions. When the protective device is laid flat, the securing portions lie alongside the protective portion. The securing portions are detachable from the protective portion by lines of weakness. The securing portions are tying portions, which may be tied together in use to secure the protective device for example around the user's neck or waist. The main disadvantage of the described protective device is that when the securing portions are used as tying portion it can tear from the bib due to the shear forces on the strips at the curved parts contacting with the bib.
• Patent document DE 103 20 172 disclosure paper napkin for protecting user's clothes from splashes or drippings while eating. Edge strips are joined to adjacent or opposing sides of a paper napkin through perforations. The edge strips serve as fixing strips when partially detached from the napkin sides. Also in this construction the edge strips are subject to easy unintentionally tearing.
• The serviette provided with two separable fastenable neck bands and with openings for buttons or a tie of the invention solves the technical problem in a way that a conventional serviette has two opposite lying sides provided with two bands and slits which are provided with perforations and serve to stabilise the bands intended to tie the serviette around a neck, said bands enabling a user to tie the serviette around his/her neck and additional perforated openings serving for the purpose of inserting the serviette into a button hole or onto a tie.
• The invention will now be explained in more detail by way of an embodiment and drawings, representing in:

Figure 1

serviette of the invention in top view showing perforated separable bands;

Figure 2

serviette of the invention in top view prepared to be placed around a neck;

Figure 3

serviette of the invention in top view showing additional perforated openings.

• Figure 1 shows a serviette of the invention in top view. Two bands 1 are provided by longitudinal perforations at two opposite sides of the serviette, wherein the shape of the bands 1 can be slightly conical in order to provide for a better stability of the bands. The perforations at the bottom side of bands 1 continue to the end and finish in a semi-circular manner, whereas the perforation on the upper end of bands 1 ends lower than the upper edge of the serviette and is not in contact with transversally perforated slits 2 lying aslant and being oriented towards the upper edges of the serviette.
• After the perforation is torn and both bands 1 partly separated from the remaining part of the serviette, both bands 1 are drawn through the openings that appeared after the perforated slits 2 were torn. Both bands 1 are thus stabilised and the serviette gets a shape shown in Figure 2. A serviette thus converted can easily be tied around a neck as a napkin that provides protection of clothing, a shirt or a tie against stains and ensures a successful and safe placement, as the serviette thus tied does not move and cannot fall to the ground.
• The serviette has further perforations like perforated slits 3 for openings for various sizes of buttons or a perforated slit 4 for the opening intended to place the serviette on a tie.

Claims (2)

1. A serviette provided with:

   - two separable fastenable neck bands (1) which are part of the serviette and provided by longitudinal perforations at two opposites sides of the serviette and can be optionally partly separated from the serviette;

   - and with openings for buttons or a tie,

   wherein the perforations at the bottom side of the bands (1) continue to the end of the serviette and are shaped in a semi-circular manner at the tear-apart end,
   wherein the perforations of the upper end of bands (1) end lower than the upper edge of the serviette
   characterised in that
   two slits (2) are provided with longitudinal perforations at two opposite sides and arranged aslant and oriented towards the upper corners of the serviette and serve to stabilise and strengthen the bands intended to tie the serviette around a neck,
   and in that the perforation of the upper end of the bands (1) are not in contact with the slits (2).
2. Serviette of claim 1,
   characterised in that
   the shape of the bands (1) can be slightly conical.

Images